Operation Hell Gate - Marc Cerasini [24]
Jack also wanted to speak to the person or persons Dante Arete sent his hit squad to assassinate. Jack didn't always subscribe to the dictum that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but right about now he could use an ally on this coast to make up for the deficit of CTU support he was facing. And if Arete wanted someone dead, it was probably because he knew something that could hurt the gang leader. Jack wanted a part of that as well.
In the tavern below, a short burst from the AK-47 was followed by a hollow click on an empty magazine — the shooter was out of ammunition. Arete's men knew it, too. Like shadows in the blue neon glow, they slipped out from behind the pool tables and moved to flank the defenseless man.
Jack balanced over the skylight, reloaded his weapon. He shot through the glass and dropped into the middle of the tavern. Jack landed in a crouch in front of a startled gunman. The man raised the Uzi and Jack fired, blowing the top of his head off.
Jack ducked under a broken table and rolled as the other man fired on him. The shots kicked up splinters from the floor.
"Give up and I won't hurt you," Jack cried. He was answered by another burst — which also ended with an empty click.
Jack leaped to his feet and leveled his weapon. The man in the blue duster looked up fearfully, then let the weapon fall from his grip.
"Step forward and I won't..."
Suddenly shots filled the tavern as a long burst tore the man in the long coat to bloody pieces. Jack whirled to find a heavy-set man facing him. The man instantly dropped the Uzi and threw up his arms when his eyes met Jack's.
"You must help me," Georgi Timko pleaded. "That son of a bitch over there shot my friend. I... I think he's dying."
4
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 12 A.M. AND 1 A.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME
12:01:00 A.M. EDT
CTU Headquarters, Los Angeles
On his way through the command center, Tony Almeida fell into step beside Captain Jessica Schneider.
"Where are you headed, Captain?"
"The same place as you."
Tony stopped and faced her. Nina had summoned the CTU Crisis Management Team to Doris's workstation. As far as he was concerned, the CTU team didn't — and shouldn't — include an entity from the DOD.
"But you're not part of the Crisis Team," he informed her.
"I am now, Special Agent Almeida. Nina Myers just notified me of the security clearance upgrade."
Tony looked away. "RHIP," he muttered.
Captain Schneider fixed her blue eyes on him. "You are correct. Rank does have its privileges. But is it really my rank that bothers you?"
Tony glanced to his right and left. "It's not your rank," he said quietly enough to keep their conversation private. "It's your relationship to a powerful member of the House Ways and Means Committee."
"A person can't control the situation she was born into. But let me assure you that no strings were ever pulled for me... I earned the rank and responsibilities I hold."
She whirled and stalked away before Tony could make his meaning clear. He didn't give a rat's ass about the woman's career trajectory. It was her direct line to another branch of government that gave him indigestion. If Captain Jessica Schneider decided to pass judgment on what and how they did things at CTU Los Angeles, she could pass that judgment on to her father, who wielded plenty of influence via his position on a Capitol Hill oversight committee. So why didn't Nina get that?
Tony continued on alone across the command center floor. He arrived at the Crisis Team meeting to discover a crowd silently watching the young Korean-American woman stretching in her cubicle. Her back turned to the spectators, Doris — head tilted on her long neck — was balanced on the tips of her toes. With balletic grace, she dipped to one side then the other, blithely unaware she had attracted an audience. When she finally stretched her arms high over her head, spun around, and opened her eyes, she found the others watching. Scattered applause followed. Doris, blushing, put her arms to her sides and dropped back down to the soles